Pilgrim Blog: Day 10 (and day 10 again)

Charlotte:
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Today was and will forever remain the longest day of our lives. It started on a crisp morning in the middle of a race track in Sydney, Australia, and ended on a sunny beach in Honolulu, Hawaii coming to a grand total of a full forty-three hour day.
The day began when we were rudely awakened this morning to the chant of “WAKE UP PILGRIMS!” and a banging drum at 5:30am. It was a bit chilly out and we were all a little sad to crawl out of our warm sleeping bags. However, we persevered and managed to all be semi- awake and fed in time for the Morning Prayer service. We saw the Pope up close in his “Popemobile” as he drove around the track to start the final Mass. The Mass was amazing; for those who did not watch it on television, the music was beautiful and the Pope’s message to the youth and pilgrims was that of hope and prayer for the youth and to not be afraid in this materialistic world to say “yes” to God and your faith and to never be embarrassed about what you believe in. Although tired, we all understood his message and we all became very reflective about our time in Sydney, a city we had all come to love and would miss, and about the pilgrimage we had just experienced. However we had to pack up our stuff early because we were on a tight time table. It was noon and we had to have everything packed and ready for our departure as well as showered and dressed not only for the other people on our plane but also for our “Farewell Dinner” with Cardinal Sean O’Malley. At 12:30pm we set off for the buses that were to take us back to the hotel so that we would have plenty of time to get ready- checkout was at 4pm and dinner was at 4:45pm. Unfortunately what was supposed to cut down on our walk back to the hotel cost us even more time due to some miscommunication and we suddenly found ourselves at 2:30pm bus-less and a bit pressed for time. We made it though, packed, checked out and squeaky clean, just in time for dinner. Steven Jones was nominated from our group to sit with the Cardinal, however, due to our departure time we had to cut dinner short so that we could make it to the airport. However, there was also a slight miscommunication between this bus company as well, but after a mini van, cab, and bus that looked like something straight out of the 1970’s we all managed to make it to the Sydney airport on time, breeze through security and make it on the plane headed for Hawaii. We were absolutely exhausted and all fell asleep almost immediately.
A nine hour nap was in order and we all gave in to our fatigue, many of us missing dinner, breakfast, or even both. When we landed in Honolulu we hit the ground running. It was Sunday, again, 11am Honolulu time, and we had to get through customs and make our way to our hotel. Despite Joanne’s passport debacle everyone made it back into the U.S. with no problems and after each receiving his or her lei we headed for the hotel. We entered our beautiful hotel and immediately headed for the shops and beach after quickly tossing our stuff in our rooms. It rained a little when we arrived but the sun was soon shining and we enjoyed our first relaxing day in Honolulu.
It was a great last day in Sydney and we are all going to miss our time in Australia. The pilgrimage was a success and we all came to know a lot more about ourselves and our Faith. And many of us cannot wait for World Youth Day 2011 in Madrid!